A View From a "Coward" on Race
As many of you may have heard, our new Attorney General, Eric Holder, gave a speech addressing race relations in America as part of the Black History month observations. Among his remarks he called the American people "cowards" with regard to resolving racial issues. He cited workplace gains, but countered with the term "social segregation" with regard to how both blacks and whites spend their leisure time.
If Mr. Holder sought to be inflammatory in his remarks in order to spark a more open debate, we would have to say that he succeeded - discussions on this subject seems to be pervading all manner of news, commentary and talk show today. I am not offended by the remarks, but a bit dismayed by them. The surrounding comments where he lamented that blacks and whites get along great in the workplace. yet don't socialize on the weekend seemed disingenuous coming from a man of reasonable success. It reminded one of the methods used to mine the guilt of white people in the manner of Al Sharpton, rather than the edifying speech of Martin Luther King, Jr., or for that matter, his boss President Obama.
I felt the need to address this from the standpoint of one of the individual "cowards" in the trek to racial equality. Again, I find no offense in his remarks. It may be that the perspective of a middle-aged white man does differ that much from my counterpart as a black man, but I do see a need to put out my observations as a counterweight.
I do not believe that I hold any special gift of acceptance that is not common in a free society. My story is common to many whites of my era. I believe that I stand as part of the last generation in America where the concept of institutional racism was a valid charge. When I was a young boy, segregation and Jim Crow were predominant in many areas, and MLK Jr. had only started his journey in leading all people to the promised land of racial harmony. One of my most vivid memories was the look of terror on my mother's face when news of King's assassination came. I was held home from grammar school for two weeks out of fears for what the blacks might do.
It was a time of forced desegregation, busing, affirmative action and using the law to change people's behavior, even if it could not change their minds. Attorney General Holder remarked that people are drawn to the familiar and fear the different. For the adult generation of the 60's and the 70's there was hard adjustment to this new reality. For the generation growing up, there was confusion, but change started to progress. There was the sidelong glance when I brought a black friend home, as their was in his house when "that white boy" came calling. Inter-racial dating was new and daring, and as teens do, sometimes it was done for shock value, but more often for love - or teen love anyway. All of this provided an education to us that we weren't all that different - and if we were, well, it wasn't because of skin color. It was because individuals of all races are individually different. Most are good kind people with flaws, and some are flaws trying to mask themselves as good kind people. This was a transition where not only did behavior change, but attitude did as well.
I look to the new generation coming up. The generation that Candidate Obama inspired and overwhelmingly accepted him to be President Obama. They are MLK's dream generation who are blind to skin color, and judge people by their character. I have been blessed with several children and none of them see skin color any differently than eye or hair color. It is an individual trait, not an indictment of a people. The inter-racial coupling that was daring to the teens of my youth, is commonplace to the point of boredom now. I do not worry if the person my child is dating is black or white, but that he get good grades, that he is courteous, that he is a good person to be around.
My young son has been born into a world with a black President. That will never again be a question. By the time his firstborn arrives, that generation will look upon these debates that we are having about racial equality with the same disturbed curiosity that we look back at slavery with today.
I do not understand Mr. Holder's impatience with socializing. A person picks his friends from many traits - common interests, from among neighbors, members of the church, PTA, or other social areas, as well as work. There will forever be individual racist idiots in the world, but there is no white person that I know (and some of my best friends are white people) who would deny friendship to someone with whom he shares some common bond solely on the basis of his skin color.
There are valid reasons for not getting together on weekends. All of us, black and white, tend to socialize with our neighbors. As Mr. Holder pointed out, it is human nature to seek out the familiar - so there are black neighborhoods and there are white (as there are Chinese, Italian, and Arabic communities). In a country as diverse as ours, some familiarity is welcome. Economic inequality over generations has fed into this to some degree, but as the laws and generations have changed, so has economic opportunity - of which Mr. Holder is a prime example.
This is now not primarily a problem of race, but of class. As more and more people escape from poverty, there will be less to fear from those who are different, and less segregation as people move to better neighborhoods. This is a problem best dealt with through education and job-training programs, not through complaining that the average white person does not maintain a 12.5% ratio of black friends (or conversely, that a black person does not maintain an 87.5% ratio of non-black friends) based on census numbers of proportion of population for different ethnic groups.
I can understand Mr. Holder's impatience in general. In scarcely over 40 years we have gone from American Apartheid to electing a man who could not share a water fountain with a white, to the highest office in the land. It seems reasonable to believe that social norms would change just as quickly. What I cannot understand is how he does not see his own acceptance into the social circle that he moves in.
I am sure that Mr. Holder does not socialize exclusively with black people, and I'm also sure that he is far from the only black person in attendance at social events that he attends. What happens in the rarefied air of Washington DC, happens every day in neighborhoods all across America, though we make due without the champagne and caviar. Dr. King's dream is alive and well, and moving along in good time. Mr. Holder's angst would be better focused on providing people the means to permanently escape the poverty that keep them from participating in the neighborhood block party, rather than reviewing the guest list.
RLB
Categories: Social Policy
Tags: American interests race relations civic responsibility
Well said - I was thinking along the same lines. Here I thought the white guilt would just melt away now that Obama was President. Some people just can't seem to stop throwing rocks.
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I heard Holder's comments today, too. I was thinking what planet is this guy from. I have plenty of friends over to my house and the idea of some of them being black, or hispanic, or asian never entered into my mind. It's a new day out there - we don't care about race. The old folks might have some issues left, but those issues will die with them. Grow up already.
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I am of Holder's generation and race. I understand his motivation and his frustration in thinking that he could provoke some minds to action and make an extra effort to socialize outside of their normal circles. I think that all that could be converted of this generation have been, and like the author of the article, I look to the next generation to finish the work. It is no longer the white man causing us trouble, now it is our own misery preying on us. Those of us who have raised ourselves out of poverty and desperation need to reach back and bring more forward. A black President means a lot, but going back to a community with little hope, and showing a way out through education and honest work will restore both hope and self-esteem. It is my hope that those of us from this generation can lead along the disadvantaged youth of today, so that tomorrow we all might be better off and color blind.
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I found Holder's remarks to be kind of condescending, and yeah, full of trying to make the whites feel guilty if they hadn't had any blacks over for BBQ last weekend. It was disappointing - especially when you consider Obama's example on this. He assumes that you are not a racist, and that you don't live your life as one. Most white people aren't racist - they just don't think about race much at all. Maybe that's what Holder was going for - to get the white people thinking, but flavoring it with guilt just backfires.
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I think Holder has a point. How many of us are friendly to everyone at work, but when it comes to spending time with co-workers on a day off, we invite people individually, and then its just this one or that one. How many times do we invite someone of a different culture along? jmiller is right in that most whites don't think about it, but maybe we should. If we all get along so fine at work, why not include everyone for the weekend get together? Give that other person the option to attend or not - don't automatically assume they don't want to go. It makes sense to me.
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But if I invite EVERYBODY, then I'm stuck inviting that obnoxiuos blowhard from my race who will just ruin the party...
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Wow, John, are you ever serious? No one wants the "obnoxious blowhard" at the party. For real, I agree with kstowe, there are many gatherings I have including coworkers, and looking at who I usually invite, there would be no harm in expanding my list. I never really thought about it, and I guess that's what Eric Holder was trying to say.
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Holder's comments were offensive to me. I'm still not on the Obama bandwagon, but he never made race an issue. Now you have his attorney general breaking out "the old racist whiteys have to work with us but won't socialize with us" song and dance. I invite to my home who I invite to my home. It is my home. Now I'm supposed to run any event held in my home past the NAACP to see if I'm a racist or not? And if I was to invite Mr. Holder, it would not be because he was whining about not being included because he was black. If I invited him it would be because I liked him well enough to invite him. That is the only reason anyone gets invited into my home. Save the social guilt-trip for the poitically-correct mush brains who feed on this garbage. It has no place coming from a government official.
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I think that there really is a dividing line between the generations - those born before the civil rights laws really took hold, and those born after. Those born before see the world still remembering Bull Connor, George Wallace and the violent opposition to MLK. They see every slight in the same way that Israel feels every swat taken at them as a threat to their existence. The generation born after (which Obama by geography is included in) sees the world as it is - not yet perfect, but well on the way to healing. Racism is not the norm, and the few fanning the flames on both sides are pretty sad oddities dyng out in this new day. I was born post MLK, and started school post busing (in my town). A racial mix was the norm, the generation before, it was probably not. The reaction to Eric Holder's comments seem to be reflected in this generational thing. This generation seems suprised by the "charge" of social racism, and the previous generation seems defensive - as they feel that they have learned "tolerance" (which is a horrible term). My guess is that the generation that was pre-civil rights would just ignore Mr. Holder outright as irrelevant - no suprise, and no guilt. I'll take his remarks as I think he intended them - old school trying to reach out to a new school that already knows the coursework.
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Eric Holder did us all a favor - even in his choice of words. If you just look at the shock and anger and being put off experssed here, you can see he was on target. We don't talk about race. It's the elephant in the room. Obama got elected because, except for one speech, he never mentioned race. Everybody has personal feelings on the issue, but no one feels free to express them - whether that's a black person who feels hopeless in their situation, or a white person who feels angry because he never has personally felt or practiced racism. Mr. Holder thinks it's time to talk, and through the talking, maybe we can heal. The new generation of white may not have racism, but the new generation of blacks still suffers the effects in just freshly emerging from it's shadow. Ignoring the problem may make it go away, but it does not provide healing to either side. White guilt and black anger will continue on until we can freely express our own experience with regard to race.
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I can't see how more talking is going to be useful. Black man says "You brought my people over from Africa and made us slaves, and that's screwed up all my people." White man replies "Yes, I'm sorry - but slavery has been abolished for 150 years. I never owned any. My family never owned any. We changed all of the laws 50 years ago, and changed our attitudes since. All we're asking is that you take advantage of the opportunities everybody gets, get an education and be productive. And stop already with the slavery. It's ancient history and it doesn't explain why your life is a mess now." Somehow I don't see that as a particularly "healing" conversation - but that's the truth of it.
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Madhatr, your entry is why a dialogue would be helpful. It is not about slavery anymore - we are thankful that many whites made the ultimate sacrifice to aid in freeing us. It is more about the institutional and heartfelt racism that pervaded the white community until very recently. Even "The Great Emancipator", President Lincoln, did not feel that blacks and whites could live together as equals. The black man, through white eyes. has historically been a slightly less than human savage that could be taught to mimic civilized behavior. He could never be civilized himself. That is the basis for segregation, Jim Crow, and the tolerance for hate groups such as the KKK or the John Birch society. Even in the haven of the northern states. blacks were segregated to the less savory parts of town with a wink and a nod to southern bigotry. The sad part is that the black man believed the bigotry of the white man, instead of the noble beginnings of his heritage, and his history. When the white lie was exposed through Martin and Malcolm, the whites felt rightly guilty, but they still believed the black man incapable to rise without the white man acting as his champion. This led to well-intentioned disasters in social programs that decimated the black family, and set us up for the hopelessness of Compton, Harlem, Detroit and DC. If you are constantly beaten down by a system that reinforces the notion that you cannot succeed without the white man sponsoring you, the lie eventually becomes true. Gang violence, the drug culture, and generational poverty did not arise from the black family or black faith. They arose from the belief within the black community that the black man could only succeed if the white man let him. Martin, and Malcolm, both preached against this poisonous belief - and both were martyred. On the white man's behalf, I believe his change of heart this time is genuine - he has done what he could to make opportunity equal, though work still needs to be done. It is now up to us to deny the lie of black inferiority, and to encourage our youth, and our selves to succeed. Educate, empower, and emancipate. It is in seizing what opportunity exists, and expanding that opportunity to others, that will allow us to feel as equal as we truly can be. If we are to truly come together as equals, then whites and blacks must understand that this isn't just as simple as forgive and forget.
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If all of the discussion can be that well reasoned, there is hope for us yet. There is still ignorance - not racism. not stupidity - just a lack of awareness of how complicated the history of race relations in this country is. Angry meeting angry, or ignorance meeting ignorance gets us nowhere. It is in meeting ignorance or anger with reason and patience that we will come to understanding. That is what Martin strove for. An angry man has already lost his argument.
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Starting a dialogue in these times of political correctness is likely to have you get your head bit off. It's not like the old days when you could laugh about what Archie said on "All in the Family". A white person starts the conversation and is assumed racist, an African American starts it and is assumed to be spreading guilt. The whole idea is a tall order.
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modoman is right. There's not really a good way to open that kind of conversation anymore. "All in the Family" was a great tool, because just about everyone could laugh at the absurdity, and when you're laughing it's hard to be angry or defensive. It's often been said that "All in the Family" could not run on TV today because it is "offensive". If imaginary TV characters can't speak (even out of ignorance)on matters of race, how are real people expected to engage? A non-threatening catalyst as a conversation starter would really help.
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Well, going with the idea that something seen on TV could be used in the real world; How hard would it be to include some racial discussions in the plotlines of major TV shows. Most of them have mixed casts now anyway. A "Law & Order" could focus on a rift between the white cop and the black one caused by a racial comment. Maybe a "very special" episode of "The Office" dealing with race (they've already done one on a character being outed...). It would be an intro to the subject at least - a way to make discussion non-confrontational.
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That's an idea straight out of Orwell - we can have scripts submitted to the Ministry of Propoganda for clearance, or better yet, just come up with the Secretariat of Scriptwriting to make sure that our leisure hours in front of the boob tube are spent "re-educating" us in the proper behaviors for citizens to engage in. I'm not saying that there doesn't need to be some interaction to improve race relations, but I don't think that should be the business of the entertainment industry.
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Oh, come on bagorocks - just about every TV show has politics woven into it. Law & Order is liberal, 24 is conservative. There's no ministry of propoganda - the writes write what sells, and either the show is a hit or not. No one is mandating shows to "educate" us, but if a few scriptwriters see this as a chance to open some minds, or sparks some conversation, they are free to do so. And if the idea flops, the Neilson ratings will take care of it.
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I like the idea of our entertainment providing us with an opening to discuss these issues. No one in white America really understood what slavery was about until "Roots" was aired. Yes, they knew in theory, but the dramatic representation allowed a large audience to experience the ugliness of that part of US history. It provided a lot of good discussion in my high school classes, and opened a lot of minds to things they hadn't thought about. Just about every show does have some political leaning - why not use that for some good? The "Crusoe" series comes to mind as an excellent way to spark discussion on race relations - especially when you contrast the bond between Crusoe and Friday, and the obvious racism and bigotry exhibited by most everyone else coming in contact with them. Good writing can open up discussions and understanding.
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That really does sound like a fairly pain free way to open a dialogue - and I agree that "Crusoe" handled the racial tensiion issue very well.
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Just to add a comment about "Crusoe" - the racial aspect was an integral part of the story on a week to week basis. It was not only showing the ugliness of racism, but also the struggle for Crusoe himself - who saved Friday's life in this version - and his tripping over the silent prejudices he had been raised with. Another aspect was Friday's contrast when confronted by racism from an outsider, and when Crusoe blurted something out in ignorance. I can't say that the purpose of the show was to educate on racial matters, but it did, and very effectively.
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Maybe I was blessed with an upbringing that really was race neutral, but I have always been exposed to, and have as friends, a diverse bunch of people. It is only when a discussion comes up like this that I'm made aware of the fact that my situation is apparently not the norm. I think the generation part of it is part of the reason, the newer a person is to the planet, the less trouble they have with race - or so it seems. I'm sure that there will always be an individual idiot or two running around, but at least in this country, the racists are a dying breed. Maybe the old guard is feeling a bit irrelevant, after a job well done.
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Oh, it's out there - the racism. It cuts both ways too. I wouldn't consider myself or anyone in my family a racist. Most of the neighborhood is black now and we get along fine. But pickings are slim now - we're all working class. As the jobs start going away, you can't help but think if the white guy got let go because the black guy would cry racism. I imagine the black guy would be right to call racism. When the real issues are food on the table and a roof over your head, you try to find a reason besides just bad luck. No one wants to think it's just bad luck.
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Seems like we stepped ahead of the news cycle again. There's an AP wire out this morning being reported on MSNBC about how advertisers are glomming onto the "racial harmony" theme. It gives examples of several spots (Coke, E-Trade)and gives a bit of history, as well as giving a lot of statistical reasoning for the trend (while ignoring that a black President may have opened a door). They also have a surprising take on how this is negative, and just papers over the racial divide, which I think is way off base. If anything, it gives us more opportunities for discussion that don't threaten either side. The article is posted at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29453557/
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Thanks for the link - It is a very informative article, but yeah, there is a very negative tone to it overall. You would think that it would cheer along the trend a bit, rather than cry about how it it just masks the problem, and focus on still existing disparities between minorities and whites. When Bill Cosby created the Huxtables, an African-American family consisting of two successful professionals with sqeaky clean kids getting A's in class, it existed, but could not be called common. I don't know if it's common yet, but it's more common than it was. TV provides a society something to strive for - this is an additional function to reporting what is.
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There has always been a progression in TV shows as entertainment. They start with where we are - "All in the Family", "Good Times", "Chico and the Man"; and they evolve, sometimes with society, sometimes ahead of it - "The Jeffersons", "Fresh Prince". TV is a powerful tool in turning the mirror on a society so that we can look clearly at ourselves, and judge whether that's who we want to be.
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Looks like this is going from a discussion on race to a discussion on the role of TV in race relations. As was said, most TV shows have a political leaning, and more and more are racially aware. Just about all of your "ensemble" shows (large casts) are almost following a formula in racial diversity now - the black man in the cast has been joined by a black woman, an asian, lately someone of south asian heritage, at least one hispanic, and someone gender neutral. The newest trend is for the black man to be in charge, or one of the people in charge anyway. TV is already on board and ahead of the curve racially. It is providing an example that we are adapting to in our own lives. I think the original concern was what are we doing in our ACTUAL lives with regard to racial inclusion.
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I know it happens, but how ignorant do you have to be for race to still be an issue here and now? It's not like we don't all at least work with different races and cultures. None of us has seen any of them with horns and a pointy tail, or even Spock ears. This may be the only country on earth where we can experience the diversity of the world's cultures on restaurant row, and have all those same cultures show up at the condo association mixer - and have a good time with each other. For anybody still hung up on race, loosen up and enjoy the flavors - vanilla all the time is just boring.
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